1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wall-mounted type microwave oven, and more particularly, to a wall-mounted type microwave oven which selectively discharges air in a cooking chamber to the outside or to a kitchen space.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a wall-mounted type microwave oven is mounted on a kitchen wall over an oven range, and is designed to carry out a cooking operation and exhaust gas and fumes generated from the oven range disposed therebelow to the outside.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven comprising an oven body 1 having a cooking chamber 2 and a electric component compartment 3, which are isolated from each other by a partition plate 8. The microwave oven is also provided with an exhaust flow path 4 to exhaust gas and fumes generated from an oven range (not shown) disposed therebelow. The exhaust flow path 4 extends from bottoms of the cooking chamber 2 and the electric component compartment 3 to tops thereof through side wall surfaces thereof. The oven body 1 is provided at its upper and rear portion with an exhaust fan 5 which sucks the gas and fumes into the exhaust flow path 4 and discharges them to the outside.
The electric component compartment 3 is provided therein with a cooling fan 6 which cools electrical components mounted therein. The electric component compartment 3 includes a front air inlet 7 at its front and upper portion, which causes outside air to be introduced into the electric component compartment 3 therethrough. The partition plate 8 is disposed between the cooking chamber 2 and the electric component compartment 3, and is formed with a plurality of vent holes 9 to allow the air introduced into the electric component compartment 3 to flow into the cooking chamber 2, thereby ventilating the cooking chamber 2. An upper surface of the cooking chamber 2 is also formed with a plurality of second vent holes 10 at a position opposite to the partition plate 8 to allow the air in the cooking chamber 2 to be exhausted therefrom. The cooking chamber 2 includes a front air outlet 11 at its front and upper portion, which allows the air exhausted from the second vent holes 10 to be exhausted to a kitchen room space therethrough.
However, since the conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven is designed to discharge air, which is circulated in the cooking chamber 2 and then exhausted therefrom, to the kitchen room space, odors and gas generated in the cooking chamber 2 diffuse into the kitchen room space, thereby polluting kitchen room air.